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youthworks and youth specialties

what a big sigh of relief for me, today, to hear that zondervan and youthworks were announcing the sale of ys on stage at the nywc in atlanta. and, from a very personal point of view, what perfect timing for me, as i’m just back from 6 days of silence and journaling and wrestling with both god and my demons in the desert. i mean that the timing is perfect in that i would have been a mushy pile of anxious and raw emotions a week ago (i mean, in response to the “going public” part — i have known about all of this for months); but my inner world and anxiety and anger are all so very different after my time in the desert. as a result, i can, today, very honestly say: god bless you, youthworks; god bless you, zondervan. and i sincerely hope and pray, with great expectation, that ys will continue to serve and love and encourage and resource youth workers for many years to come.

i’ll blog more about my time in the desert, as well as further responses to the yw/ys/z stuff in the days to come. but for today, i’m just happy that the story is public. feels like a bit of permission to move on with my life.

dude, so wierd to be here without you. Glad it’s all out there and relieved that it’s youth works. Even more excited to see what’s next for you! thanks for the constant modeling of silence and listening.

Hey Marko! I really appreciate all you and Tic have done for youth ministry. Sad you 2 aren’t here in Atl-the lack of your presence here really shows. My wife and I will definitely have a wait-and-see approach to coming back to nywc in the future.

Marko, as someone who’s wife was in youth ministry for over seven years, and used YS stuff a thousand times, I want to extend my heartfelt thank you for all the work you did. I know Mike would be proud of you for all you did too. Maybe this is God releasing YS into freedom. ;-P

… and what a great place to be at Marko. Glad you had this time in the desert. I must say, I’m a little sad to see this go down with YS. Its def. the end of an era – yaconnelli, tic… and now you. The face of YS is changing for sure. I pray for a great YS to emerge… just hope it doesn’t lose the flavor.

Marko,
I can only imagine the burden that is lifted with the “going public” of this transition. I imagine it must have been incredibly difficult in the midst of your pain and struggle to not say anything about it.

It’s just another great example of what a classy guy you are. A true professional. And a man of integrity. God will bless you for it!

I’m Mark Oestreicher

I'm a partner in The Youth Cartel, providing services and resources for individual youth workers and organizations. I’ve been married to Jeannie for 30 years, and have two great kids: Riley (22) and Max (18).
Here's The Youth Cartel's website.
twitter: @markosbeard
instagram: @whyismarko